Independence
by Fonbella
Summary: Terra and Aqua fight. Eraqus is not happy with it. Written for the KH Kink Meme.  Eraqus/Aqua; complete


**A/N**: This was written for the Kingdom Hearts Kink Meme at LiveJournal. Prompt was Eraqus/Aqua. I've never even thought about such a pairing before reading it. For some reason my brain just started working its magic into writing this. I'm glad it did though. :) Many thanks to my friend Raye who beta'ed it for me.

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Aqua did not realize when the door opened, much less when a hand touched her shoulder, which she expressed her surprise by quickly opening her eyes and gasping inaudibly.

"Oh, it's you master." He nodded.

"You may stand up now." He offered her a hand.

Doing as she was told, Aqua accepted the help, knowing she wasn't strong enough to get up on her own after sitting on her lower limbs a whole day. As she felt the weight of her body crush her legs, she quickly grabbed her mentor's arms. In return, he supported her by grabbing her elbows.

"Easy there." He led her to a small bed in the corner of the room. After sitting her down, he went out of the room but quickly came back with a small tray of food, which he handed to her. "I'm sorry there's not much, but it wouldn't be wise to attack your stomach with food suddenly after fasting. Let's wait for you to recover."

"Yes." She quickly grabbed the spoon and started eating the soup. She had to admit, one day without her master's food could day her strength easily. She starved, not for food, but for this.

There was a small moment of silence in which Eraqus sit down next to her and patiently watched as she slowly ate the soup he prepared her. After she was done, he took the tray out of her lap and put it on a small wooden table next to him. The awkward silence, however, did not vanish.

After no one spoke for a long time, Aqua lifted her head and looked at her master.

"Is something wrong?"

"Perhaps you could tell me that." He turned his head towards her. "Will you tell me now what happened yesterday between you and Terra?"

Aqua averted her eyes and clenched her fists she rested on her legs.

"We…" It was no use. She couldn't say it. "Terra learned some things about me I wish he didn't." Looking at her master again, she clung to her heart. "Master, he entered my room and invaded my privacy! You told us yourself that even though we're a family and everything is shared, we should also respect each other's feelings, for we may have some things that we wouldn't want to talk to others about, or aren't ready to." She shook her head when she remembered when Terra entered this very room yesterday. Adjusting herself on her bed to fully face her master, she continued. "He confronted me about it and I lost my temper." She got angry as she remembered how it went. "I know what I did wasn't the right thing or the smarter thing to do… But he actually hurt my feelings." Unable to face him any longer, she looked down.

He took a long a breath and sighed heavily.

"I understand that, Aqua, that's exactly why I gave him the same punishment as I did you."

Aqua looked down the window next to her bed. She could see Ven guiding Terra out to the courtyard. He started to stretch and she could feel the pain and numbness he felt in his legs. She suppressed a smile when Ven started laughing at Terra, who fell down after losing his balance. His legs weren't going to recover so soon. She might have to join them later if she wants to regain control of them soon.

"But what I don't understand is…" Eraqus grabbed her chin and turned her to face him. "Why?" As their eyes met, Eraqus could only see doubt and guilty, as she could only see a worried father.

In a sense, she was glad he was asking her this. That meant Terra didn't say anything. She smiled a bit and thanked him mentally, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"You promise you won't laugh?"

He let go of her face and grabbed her hands instead, smiling in encouragement. "When did I ever?"

Sighing in defeat, Aqua looked down again.

"There's this… feeling I have inside. Something weird I feel… I feel for you." She motioned to him. "I didn't realize this until recently. I tried keeping it away, but Terra noticed it. Geez I'm still trying to find out how." She rolled her eyes. "So yesterday he came to my room and confronted me about it." Eraqus noticed as her eyes became angry again. "I was pissed. He had no right to peer into my emotions. After shouting some angry words, we fought. He…"There was a small pause in which she retreated her hands from his grip and closed them on top of her legs. "No, I think I started it. I'm sorry."

Eraqus knew the rest. That's when both him and Ven, surprised by the uproar, went to see what had happened, only to find Aqua yelling at a fallen Terra, who was caressing his face after the punch he received. He locked each in their respective rooms and told them to reflect on what happened by sitting on the floor for a whole day without eating. The next day he retrieved Terra himself, but since he didn't say a word, he told Ven to keep out an eye on him and to take care of his condition as he'd go take check up on Aqua. And here he was.

To a normal family this may have considered a very harsh and severe punishment, but to a keyblade masters family, that was just normal training. They have undergone far harsher training in fact. Eraqus only wanted was best to him and reflection right now was the answer.

"You're not laughing."

Eraqus blinked out of his thoughts as he looked at a surprised Aqua. That however, made him laugh.

"Hey, I told you not to laugh!" She gave him a small punch to the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He composed himself. "I'm not laughing at you, but at the damage you did on Terra."

That said, she remembered how his eyes became a dark purple when he left her room the day before. Laughing herself, she waited until both her and her master stopped so he could say anything on the matter. When he didn't and an awkward silence took place instead, she shifted her eyes in embarrassment, a rare sight she'd never dare show to no one but her master.

"Well, say something."

"Aqua, do you really think Terra would've realized this and I wouldn't?"

"W-well…"

"Terra only realized it because you let it show." He gripped her shoulders firmly, locking eyes with her. "But don't ever stop showing your affection and feelings towards other because you're scared. That's what makes your heart so strong." He put a hand on her chest. The warmth of it made her blush a little, but she tried to ignore it and she looked in his eyes. "That's a beautiful thing you have, Aqua, that I regret to admit, I will never be able to teach either Ven or Terra. I'm not even sure this is something I taught you myself or you learned on your own. Whatever the case, do not feel ashamed of it because that's what will draw others to you."

"I will hurt more easily."

"Perhaps so. But wasn't through pain and loss that you learned how to wield your keyblade? Didn't we hurt you many times during your training? And we're sure to hurt you even more, because that's how you'll learn it. Isn't that right?"

"Yes." She closed her eyes briefly remembering those moments and opened them again, still looking at him. "You're right. I'm sorry for my behavior yesterday."

"It's not me you have to apologize to." He motioned to Terra through the window. "And Aqua." He looked at her again and their eyes locked one last time. "What you may feel for me now is normal. Children sometimes feel that way towards their parents."

"I'm not a child anymore."

"It just happened later to you than it normally would." He shook his head and stood up, grabbing her hands and ordering her to do the same. He helped her stay up for a moment by grabbing her elbows. "But it will pass soon, so don't worry about it.

"Alright." She closed her eyes when he gave a kiss to her forehead. "Thanks." She whispered and he let her go and walked out of the room, closing the door.

That's when she felt a heavy weight on her shoulders and fell down on the floor, something she knew had nothing to do with her weak legs or any physical pain at all. Hiding her face on her bed, she silently cried her heart out.


End file.
